Friday, August 12, 2005

gas tax

In Washington State, where I live, a gas tax was recently passed in Olympia. The tax was about 10 cents a gallon -- and since it went into effect in July, the sharper folk of our fine state may have noticed gas prices rising by more than 10 cents due to good old market forces.

The tax may be short lived - the forces of populist buncombe have converged to repeal the law via state wide voter initiative 912. And maybe they are onto something, seeing as some money is earmarked for the pig-dog Alaskan Way Viaduct, and then again, maybe not.

5 Comments:

Seeing the great demand for freeways for the next quarter century, killing this project before it has an opportunity to squander what little time and resources we have left might not be a half bad idea.

Not being familiar with Washington State politics here is what I think should be done with the gas tax money:

1> Construct/improve intercity train service. 2> Improve/restructure bus systems to be more efficient3> Ensure a local source of transportation fuel for public transit be constructed

Spending 2-4 Billion to replace an artifact of cheap motoring would be assinine if you ask me. Let that thing stay up until the next earthquake levels it or traffic diminishes (due to a lack of fuel) to the point where it could be scrapped. Imagine how much steel could come out of that structure for recycling purposes.

What do you do with 4 billion dollar tunnel when you have no cars to use it?

Unplanner - I have mixed feeling about how the gas tax should be used.

Obviously, the classic formulation was used - car drivers fund road improvements. So to do the improvements you suggest - while prudent (and we do have light rail underway, not mention, cha cha, a monorail) are not going to be packaged with a gas tax.

That said, the plans to replace the viaduct with an underground tunnel, ARE assinine, and any money spent on this will clearly be wasted.

WHT:The wingers in our state are pissed off and reactionary. Goodness knows why - King County money built ALL the roads in Eastern Washington, and those welfare queens want to secede.

Seems like this topic comes around quite often - especially when gas prices are higher ( of course ).Texas for example, is currently reviewing the possibility again. The Texas House has passed the measure with overwhelming approval and now the Texas Senate is expected to vote.http://e85.whipnet.net/news/gas.tax.relief.html